Respondents to a recent Chamber of Commerce survey have reportedly fallen a victim of cyber in the past year alone. It also revealed that big businesses seemed to be the big targets, but smaller businesses were still being targeted also.
The news that Cyber-attacks risk companies’ finances, confidence and reputation as well as jeopardising customer data is nothing new to many of us. However, the basic steps that all businesses can take still seem to be lost in translation somewhere. While firms of all sizes, from large major corporation’s down to the sole traders making their way in new markets are all falling victim to cybercrime and failing to serve their customers with basic cyber security precautions.
Organisations need to become more proactive about protecting themselves from cyber-attacks. Accreditations can help businesses assess their own IT systems and infrastructure, help begin defending against online crime and highlight areas that need significant attention. Not only this, organisations are also prone to build confidence among other businesses and clients with heightened security.
Worcestershire is home to one of the five companies appointed as an accreditation body for assessing and certifying against the Government’s Cyber Essentials Scheme. IASME, located in Malvern aims to help organisations implement basic levels of protection against cyber-attacks.
Businesses should also be very mindful and aware of the extensions to data protection legislation coming into force next year. This will increase responsibilities and requirements of organisations to protect personal data. Many organisations that fail to adopt the appropriate precautions that comply, leave themselves open to tough and high penalties.